Theatres across the nation, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, are still struggling roughly three years since the pandemic started. Ahead of the spring 2023 season, OSF cut its normal amount of shows, lowered ticket prices, and started laying off workers.
Early this year, NBC5 learned that former Executive Director David Schmitz resigned. Artistic Director Nataki Garrett, who joined the organization in 2019, was tapped to fill the position on an interim basis and given the difficult task of getting OSF back on track.
OSF said Garrett has led the repertory theatre through one of the most “cataclysmic” periods in its 86-year history, raising $19 million while mobilizing support for the non-profit theatre industry during the pandemic.
Late last year, Garrett spoke up about death threats she received during her time at OSF as she worked to make the organization more inclusive and less divisive. Garrett told NBC5, “It’s not something that I’ve ever wanted, or thought that I would ever have as an artistic director of a theatre company.”
On May 5, OSF announced Garrett is resigning from the organization. Her last day will be May 31.
Board member Octavio Solis will reportedly step in to help oversee the artistic leadership team during the transition.
“The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has been profoundly affected by Nataki Garrett during her tenure as its 6th world-renowned Artistic Director to helm the organization,” said Solis. “Without her selfless commitment, we would not have weathered the brutal hits caused by the pandemic shutdown and the devastating fires of the last four years. During this time, she brought new faces, new blood and new perspectives, which served our company well and kept faith with its mission and core values. We are actively conducting a search for an interim Artistic Director to ferry the company through the season, to which we are unwaveringly committed. In the meantime, we, the board, along with the staff, artists, and audiences, offer our steadfast guidance and support to the company as the 2023 season opens.”
Garrett said, “I am leaving with gratitude and great respect for the many talented people I have come to know and work with here at OSF, who work tirelessly to make sure the show must go on. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this organization for the past 4 years as we collectively navigated one of the most challenging times in the Festival’s history.”
Garrett added that she remains hopeful OSF will continue to operate for generations to come.
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